Peer Educator/Resource Room Internship Information and Application

WHAT IS THE PEER EDUCATOR PROGRAM ABOUT? The Counseling Center offers a peer educator program that focuses on healthy lifestyle management for college students. This is a “students-educating-students” program that relates to areas of relationships, depression, anxiety and stress management, eating disorders, diversity issues, alcohol and drugs, nutrition, sexual health, career exploration and other topics related to mental health and wellness. The methods of presentation are experiential interactive.

Peer educators are trained in and gain valuable experience by designing, coordinating, and presenting a variety of psychological and health education programs for university students. As a peer educator you will receive training in and then engage in the following activities: presenting programs, facilitating group discussions, staffing resource fair tables, and providing risks assessments in the areas of depression, anxiety, eating disorders and substance abuse. Students from any department are welcome to participate in the program.

All peer educators will be assigned to one of our eight outreach teams. Training is provided by Counseling Center staff members and requires approximately 1 hour a week in the outreach team meeting. This training covers the material in that outreach area as well as specific skills training in areas of public speaking, group facilitation and issues around confidentiality. You can select up to three outreach teams that you are interested in, and we will do our best to accommodate your request. The outreach teams you can select to join include:

Career

Diversity

Eating Disorders

Sexual Assault/Relationships

Stress Management

Substance Abuse

HOW WILL BEING A PEER EDUCATOR BENEFIT ME? The students participating in the Peer Educator Program will:

Strengthen leadership skills through conducting group discussion, role playing, and group facilitation.

Obtain experience in planning, organizing, and presenting a variety of mental health programs which will be applicable in many types of future employment, graduate school, or professional licensure.

INTERNSHIP CREDIT AND VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES The Peer Counselor program can be taken as an internship and you can receive course credit for this experience. You may also participate as a volunteer. The Peer Educator positions are unpaid positions.

ACTIVITIES The activities of the Peer Educator program may include, but not be limited to:

Willingness to commit 5 hours a week, divided between day and evening hours as well as occasional weekend hours for program presentations;

Level of comfort in discussion of psychological issues;

Comfortable speaking to small and large groups of people; and

Willingness to be a part of a team and work well with others.

Responsibilities:

Arrange for and participate in the training of Peer Educators;

Arrange for and attend meetings for Peer Educators as needed;

Attend weekly outreach team meetings;

Present programs in a professional, responsible manner that represents the Counseling Center and Ball State University well;

Maintain confidentiality; and

Other duties as needed to improve and maintain the effectiveness of the Peer Educator program.

Confidentiality Requirement: I understand that the problems and situations that I may be involved with as a Peer Educator are of a personal and confidential nature. I agree to maintain confidentiality by not sharing any specific information regarding persons or situations with anyone other than my immediate supervisor. Breaches of this contract are very serious and may result in my termination from the program.

Apply online if you are interested in being a Peer Educator/Resource Room Intern.

For more information, please contact Ellen Lucas, Ph.D. at the Counseling Center 285-1736. Thank you for your interest!